What's Wrong With Final Fantasy 7 and 8? - Counterpoint

In the title of Finkbot's Editorial "What's Wrong with Final Fantasy 7 and 8?", I for one, can say a lot. Especially Final Fantasy 8.

The problem is, where do I start? Although 7 is probably my favorite, they both share the same battle character problem. Take away their weapon types and their limit breaks, and each character is basically identical to the next. The Materia and Junction systems did allow customability, but both of these systems were flawed, in that you could abuse both systems to the point of having super powerful characters, simply by getting 100 Curagas or Ultimas from wandering around on the Island Closest to Hell/Heaven. Ultimecia was a joke, and was easilly dispatched. Sephiroth was a bit tougher, but I still believe Kefka was the greatest boss of Final Fantasy Fame.

Music... Final Fantasy 7, in my opinion, has the best music of the series. Songs like "One Winged Angel", "Aeris' Theme", and others made the score incredible. Granted, Final Fantasy 8 had a couple of showstopping tunes, such as "The Man with the Machine Gun" but most of its soundtrack was extremely forgettable.

Gameplay... the draw system was easily abused, in that you could just keep drawing multiple times from a single enemy, or a small group, and max out a certain part of that one spell. Seven didn't have this problem, in that powerful materia took a while to max out (Knights Of the Round, 2X-Cut all took a while to max out).

Most imporantly, however, is the story. 7's is good, but pales in comparison to 6. In my opinion, even FF1 had a better story than FF8. The theme of love was WAY overdone, and made the characters look like they were getting into a giant orgyfest... truly sickening. And as for the bashing of Final Fantasy 5's storyline, I'd have to disagree. The story, while not the best of the series, towered over 8's. Besides, 5 was mostly about the gameplay of the wonderous Job System.

Well, there's my two cents. Final Fantasy 8 is a great RPG, but when compared to the rest of the series, it deserves to take a seat near the bottom of the Final Fantasy barrel.